Feyre has returned to the Spring Court, determined to gather information on Tamlin’s maneuverings and the invading king threatening to bring Prythian to its knees. But to do so she must play a deadly game of deceit—and one slip may spell doom not only for Feyre, but for her world as well. As war bears down upon them all, Feyre must decide who to trust amongst the dazzling and lethal High Lords—and hunt for allies in unexpected places.

I read that final page and had that overwhelming feeling of bittersweet misery that the series was over. Yeah, I know we’re getting 3 more books in this world but I haven’t heard any news yet of who they’ll be about and if my guess is correct then it won’t fulfill the issues I had with this book.

You heard me, I had some issues with ACOWAR.

I loved, loved ACOMAF. Honestly, I liked ACOTAR too by the end of it though it was slow going for a while. The sequel is still my favorite though. And when I got to ACOWAR I was all excited because the ending of ACOMAF killed me. Like that cliffhanger was rough. So I dove into this third book… and was a bit disappointed.

I’m glad that a certain aspect of the story wasn’t drawn out (this is going to be hard to avoid spoilers, y’all…) because I’m pretty sure I would’ve thrown the book across the room if it had been. The whole first part was filled with scheming and mystery in the typical Maas fashion where the protagonist is doing things but they’re conveniently left out to be revealed later on. This was especially prominent in ACOMAF and Empire of Storms so I expected it.

Then the middle came and I was a bit bored. Honestly I found the story to be predictable in a way that was really just disappointing. I think that sums up my thoughts in general about this book. Just…not what I wanted. I loved the first portion of the story and then it started falling flat.

Where was the tension?! This book should have been packed FULL of tension. With all the court struggles, the sexual tension between some of the characters, I shouldn’t have been able to breathe. I expected to feel that tightening in my chest, that increasing dread or excitement of something to come.

I should have felt something, for all the emotion that ACOMAF dredged up. And I didn’t.

Also…okay, was it just me or did this book like skip edits or something? Like, it was truly a mess.

There are all of these storylines going on, each of the characters’ relationships (old and new, both romantic and not) growing and developing, and the cast has increased further. I mean, it’s kind of crazy how many characters are involved now. And I had issues with them.

I love the Inner Circle. Probably one of my all-time favorite fictional friend groups. But I’m getting tired of all of these characters (both in this series and Throne of Glass) having to be paired up. Like ALL of them. It’s kind of ridiculous, really. Furthermore, there was a definite push in this book to include a more diverse cast but it was done so in a way that felt forced. Which was, frankly, disappointing because all of the other characters had well-developed arcs and these additions seemed last-minute.

With all of the characters and abounding subplots, I really hoped that they would have satisfying conclusions, that only one or two stories would be left open for continuation in the upcoming books. Maybe it’s the fact that I don’t know what those stories will be about but I was actually disappointed with the ending. It wrapped up Feyre and Rhysand’s story arc but at the same time left SO MANY THINGS open. I didn’t feel any sort of closure for what I would expect with the end of a series. Maybe we weren’t supposed to? It’s hard to say, but I was expecting SOME sort of closure and don’t feel like I got it.

The longer I talk about this book, the more frustrated I get. I was so hopeful and perhaps my expectations were too high but this book was a mess. I love her other books but this, I think, had far too much riding on it for me and, in turn, left me wanting so much more than it could give. I wish I could have loved this book more. I really, truly do.

2 responses to “Review – A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas”

You have no idea how happy I am to see this review because I was starting to think I was insane! It seems like EVERYONE thought this was the most spectacular series ending ever to be written! I totally agree about the lack of tension. It’s insane to think that there was far more tension in the last book when the WAR was in this one! I also agree about the never ending cast. It’s strange that she was introducing new characters so late in the game. And YES to the open ended story arcs!! I’m glad Feyre and Rhys got their happy ending, but there were virtually no answers when it came to the rest of them. Basically, we are in complete agreement! XD Great review!

Lol glad I’m not the only one either!! And I LOVE her books so this review was seriously tough to write because I don’t think I’ve ever rated one of her books below a 4.5 but this was like a drastic difference in quality compared to the others. 🙁 Hopefully some of those open threads are tied up in future books!

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